Malthus’ nightscape is nigh, yo-
Frugal survivalism as if prepping is time sensitive

daily ad

Friday, January 27, 2017

long term thinking 2 of 2

LONG TERM THINKING 2

*
After a readers comment, I looked up how old my original dried hot dogs were. Surprisingly-time flies as you careen towards the grave-it was a year ago. So, taste test time. The dog loved them-which proved nothing. I ate about one links worth and stopped due to the salt overload. But I didn't get sick from it, I just had a bit of a tender stomach from it. Which, given my heartburn, was as expected. I've had worse reactions to fresh Slim Jim's. So, I still call it an edible item after storage, even if you want to eat something along with it and beware the high salt level.
*

Briefly, let me just
mention the plot device.Whether is it
for a book or for a movie, without a proper plot you do not have a tale for the
masses.Your book might appeal to a
niche if you have a bizarre method of presentation or some other gimmick.If it is an instruction manual disguised as a
story you can get away with a weak plot.But, more often than not, you’ll find a plot, good or bad or
indifferent.The problem here is that
you might mistake the plot for reality.A plot is just a device, a tool.It isn’t real life.Nobody wants
to read about your life because you are just another mouth breather amongst the
other seven billion short bus passengers.However, if you are portrayed as having a nearly insurmountable obstacle
to overcome, and you do so in a convincing manner, and there is a message given
subtlety or not to wrap up the whole tale, suddenly your life becomes a
Hallmark Movie Of The Week.And there,
my fine feathered minions, is how most people look at the apocalypse.A plot, any plot, they’ve read or watched
uncountable times.

*

Here is reality.Blah, blah, blah, minding his own business,
suddenly, boom, he is shot in the head from ambush, soils himself and the
family perishes in the flames as the homestead is burnt to the ground.See, there?No story arc, no obstacles to overcome.No background story to flesh out characters, no suspenseful lead up to a
climax.And certainly no happy
ending.But almost everyone preps like
their post-apocalyptic journey is out of a novel.The only ones who acknowledge they won’t live
too long after the collapse are the old humpers that have lived long enough to
no longer care what happens and are realistic about their odds of
survival.The younger ones ( and this
includes those mentally immature since they can’t face their mortality,
regardless of physical age ) are in complete denial.I’m certainly NOT saying your post-apocalypse
adventure can’t be a grand one.Just
that only those not paralyzed by their own imminent demise will have a chance
of lasting long enough to embark upon one.

*

The simple fact is that
most of us won’t survive the die-off.Which makes you wonder what all your preps are for.Look, I understand that none of us see the
future in the same way.I look at it like
a money back guaranteed total collapse, 99.99? % die-off.A petri dish collapse ( remember, even the
very last reindeer on the artic island died of starvation ).You probably see less dire happenings ( and
by the way, since this is my blog and I’ll cry if I want to, I’m going to keep
trying to convince you I’m right and you are wrong.No offense ).Only you can decide what is best for you.Still living in the city?I’m sure you have plenty of good enough
reasons to stay there, so how am I to be a judge?When I spew in exasperation over any minion
still residing in too large of a urban area, obviously you should take into
account I’m well versed most of you are not as paranoid as I am ( you simple
bastard.I’m kidding!Relax, Francis ).But perhaps I can assume, if you are still
reading after a short time, you aren’t one of those Prepper Pussies, only
concerned with a few weeks disaster preparedness rather than a far more manly
end of the world survivalist?

*

Can most of us agree that
one years supplies is a minimum and far better to quickly work towards a three
to five year stockpile as the new normal?Myself, I’ve been working towards a five year supply of everything.Five years of the bare bones, wheat and ammo
basically, that is no big deal.To
supply EVERYTHING, that isn’t so easy.All those clothes and footwear and health care items ( five years of toothpaste,
of butt wipe, of aspirin and bandaids and laundry soap and hand soap and
medicines and on and on ), all that entertainment and transportation and
etcetera, etcetera.A tough nut to
crack.Certainly it is no where near
impossible.I consider it a worthy
goal.And I think I’m close enough to be
done.But here is my question.Do I think I’ll use it all?Hell, no!I have no illusions of surviving long at all.

*

I’ve only endeavored to
stockpile everything I have because 1) what else am I going to do with my
money? And 2) if the Fates screw me and let me live, I’d feel foolish for not
having prepped accordingly.But for most
of us for whom survivalism is an interest rather than a all consuming hobby,
you may not even come close to needing anything other than a bare bones one
year stockpile.If you are going to die
anyway, wouldn’t it just be better to do the minimum and them relax ( well,
relax except for continuing to read and support your favorite blog here )?I’m not trying to dissuade anyone from being
extra paranoid.I encourage and
celebrate those who rightfully cringe and weep in terror more than would seen
necessary.All I’m saying is that it
seems a particularly odd thing that we are all so paranoid to assume the worst,
and plan for it, but refuse to match up our planning with our paranoia.

*

I’m not trying to
encourage the old Cold War mentality of those who lived in the city to die
instantly as they didn’t believe surviving was an optimal plan.I think everyone should go into the light
kicking and fighting.But go in fighting
knowing it is futile and you are just trying to take a few of the bastards with
you.A warriors death.They didn’t fear dying but strove to make
their death matter.So, no defeatism
here.Just a wry amusement at our focus
on long term prepping and survival when all we are really engaged in is mental
masturbation.We are living a fantasy of
longevity.If you only have a years supply
of preps, and that was hard enough to come up with, perhaps you should just be
happy with that.Not a recommendation,
just a reality check.Strive for the
impossible, but realize reality.

END

Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon ad graphics at
the top of the page.IF YOU DON’T SEE
THE AD, DISABLE AD BLOCK ( go to the Ad Blocker while on my page and scroll
down the menu to “disable this site” ). You can purchase anything, not just the
linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other
item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is
placed, I get credit for your purchase. For those that can’t get the
ads because they are blocked by your software, just PayPal me occasionally or
buy me something from my Amazon Wish List once a year.Pay your author-no one works for free.I’m nice enough to publish for mere Book
Money, so do your part.****Contact Information* Links
To Other Blogs * Land In Elko* Lord Bison* my bio & biblio* my web site is www.bisonprepper.com*wal-mart
wheat*Link To All
My Published Books*By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there

22 comments:

optimism in the minds of the powerful kills. The royal orange bastard is acting like a kid in a candy store. We do act out our own plots in life, For most men it is as provider. Women get to be nurturers, even if the have rotten black souls encasing a cold heart of stone. The largest prep will be knowing how to live withour our plots. Hate to think of how many tough hardnosed men completely fell apart after a divorce. Life will suck for the prepared. The unprepared will just lay down and die.

My feeling is that a waterfall/rapids/waterfall type collapse and die off is what will be occurring. Every days worth of stored supplies will allow someone in your community an extra day+ of survival, either because you aren't fighting for the food with them or because they have the food after you pass away from the latest cause of death. Hopefully that person is you or your closest loved ones, but tribe is tribe and your preps will be appreciated by *someone*. The chances you will survive the first plunge to die off if you are even half way prepared is much better than most peoples. Eventually something will kill you. Who knows what or when, but it will happen - maybe old age at 120, but eventually. If you have preps left over after you die it means you prepared enough. If you died because your preps were insufficient it means you lost. If your preps were enough that your children and grandchildren survive to have kids of their own you have won the lottery. If you have left the grandkids well enough established that they can and do prep themselves your team has won, congratulations!

Five years of toilet paper... What did the indians (feather) from your area use to wipe themselves, sand? Not trying to be funny, just curious. Perhaps you could try the native method and report back? I've used leaves and those work okay.Peace out

I have bundles of newspapers. Also plenty of rags. To save on the rags, one wipe with paper for most of the solids removed. It might save water and soap just foregoing the rags and using water directly, but that might be a cultural adaptation that takes some getting used to. The local Indians were scarce here-a pretty resource poor area here. Not sure if their experience is applicable.

With the correct diet and herbal supplements even type 1 diabetics can live for quite a while with minimal medical intervention. Eventually the Diabetes will kill them if something doesn't beat it. SO- don't count on *only* 6 months (but then, don't *count on* longer either - just have a little extra insurance)Depending on the nature of the die off even a type 1 diabetic may have a good chance of mid to long term survival. But then again I am one of those who grab even the smallest sliver of hope to motivate to persevere. And it has worked for me in some very dark times.

Without looking, I'd just guess from the folks I know that everyone wants to be on happy pills. And they are already touched in the head. Sure, a few will go bonkers, but many others will be so stupid they become easier targets.

Yep!! In my entire county there are less than 4k people. And it is a county that is large enough to reach the county seat from any border would take most of a day (or more) on foot and the surrounding counties are not too much larger or closer.The bad news is that just south of the county is a Native reservation (at least 3 days foot travel away), but their high population towns are on the far side of the reservation, and their are higher population places for the criminal element from there to head that would take them further away from here.Our biggest problem will be the fact that as close to the border as we are we will have front row seats to any sort of canada vs US war, and be frequently used for border patrol agents. Trade offs.

Good point James about prepping like a storybook fantasy is going to be your script for the Aftermath. Remember the ridiculous Tri-States books from the nineties? Half the print ads in ASG personals section of the time claimed to be strong adherents to "Tri-states philosophy". Meaning they were sold on the plot as their future. The original inspiration for King Kristian Militia?

Out Of The Ashes, right? Read the first in the series several times, those following once or not at all. If I recall correctly it was basically Swiss culture transformed here, with more death penalty and less politeness. The good thing about it was that it was actually a mix of politics, not just rabid left or right. A slightly more intelligent approach. I enjoyed it for that alone. The rest of the series was lame. I think the political view was what sold, but realistically Americans don't seem to be sold on balanced politics but more radical stanced ones. Probably a left-over from all those crazy religious cult immigrants. After the apocalypse all the groups would fight to accent one aspect of the philosophy and reject others, as we do with the Constitution ( all free speech but no gun rights ).

I must moderate-trust me. You don't want to see what happens otherwise. Sometimes it takes awhile to respond as I only check two or three times a day. No N-Bombs, nothing to get me libeled. Otherwise, have at it. If you criticize me, make sure to praise my hair first.